Make small tabletop games, and get them to the table
Plain, practical guides for people designing their first card or board game: how to prototype it, playtest it, price the print run and run a Kickstarter that funds. Plus the history of the original Spider-Goat Games titles, a small publisher that did all of it and wrote down what went wrong.
Design guides
How to make your own card game, step by step
From first idea to printed deck: how to design, prototype, test and produce your own card game, with the order to do things in.
How to playtest a board game (and get useful feedback)
How to run playtests that actually improve your game: solo testing, friends, blind playtests and online tests, plus the questions to ask afterward.
How much does it cost to make a board game?
What goes into the cost of producing a card or board game: printing, minimum orders, freight, fulfillment, fees and art, and how to set a retail price.
Playing card sizes and the sleeves that fit them
A chart of common card game sizes, from poker and bridge to mini Euro and tarot, how to measure your cards, and how to pick sleeves that fit.
Board game prototype supplies: what you actually need
The supplies for a board or card game prototype, from blank cards and sleeves to dice, cubes and card stock, plus software to make cards from a spreadsheet.
Social deduction and hidden-role games, explained
What social deduction and hidden-role games are, how they work, well-known examples, and what to get right if you're designing one.
Push-your-luck games, explained
How push-your-luck games work, classic examples like Can't Stop and Incan Gold, and how to design the stop-or-continue decision so it stays tense.
'I split, you choose' games, explained
How the split-and-choose (cake-cutting) mechanic works in games like Hanamikoji, San Marco and Divorce Simulator, and how to design with it.
Board game terms: a glossary for players and designers
Plain definitions of board game jargon, from meeple, worker placement and deck-building to playtest, MOQ, pledge manager and FLGS.
Crowdfunding
Board game Kickstarter mistakes that sink first campaigns
The mistakes that most often sink a first tabletop Kickstarter, from launching to nobody to art that looks homemade, with what to do instead.
KickstarterKickstarter mistake #1: not getting the word out
Why marketing before launch decides most tabletop Kickstarters, and a practical pre-launch plan for a small first campaign.
KickstarterKickstarter mistake #2: the art isn't good enough
Why art and page presentation decide most tabletop Kickstarters, how to test your art before launch, and where to spend a small art budget.
The original Spider-Goat Games
From 2015 to 2020 a Tucson publisher used this address for five small games. We keep a page for each so the rules questions and links people still have lead somewhere useful.
Martial Art: the feudal Japan card game
Martial Art is a 72-card game of clan battles in Sengoku-period Japan, illustrated with historical Japanese paintings. How it plays, what's in the box, and rules help.
ArchiveMartial Art rules FAQ and card list
How many of each Battle card are in Martial Art, plus rulings on Supplies, Legends, Support cards, ties, Geisha and Ninja.
ArchiveMartial Art: Battlefields expansion
Battlefields is the 24-card expansion for Martial Art: 8 terrain, 8 weather and 8 war cards, plus a fix for the overpowered Geisha.
ArchiveGangster Dice: the 1920s dice game
Gangster Dice was Spider-Goat Games' first game: a Prohibition-era dice game where your dice are the evidence against you and you race to get rid of them.
ArchiveDivorce Simulator: the two-player card game
Divorce Simulator is a two-player split-and-choose card game about dividing up a household. How it plays and how you win.
ArchiveDark Web: the hacking card game that never shipped
Dark Web was a 3–6 player hidden-role, push-your-luck hacking card game. Its 2017 Kickstarter was cancelled; how it would have played and why it failed.
Play in person
The best playtesting happens at a real table with strangers. We Geek Together runs game nights at its stores in Sandy and Provo, Utah, and stocks the dice and card sleeves that turn a paper prototype into something people want to play.